Nikon D7100 User manual

Introduction
Throw away your cheat-sheets and command cards! Are you tired of squinting
at tiny color-coded tables on fold-out camera cards? Do you wish you had the
most essential information extracted from my comprehensive David Busch’s
Nikon D7100 Guide to Digital SLR Photography in a size you could tuck away
in your camera bag? I’ve condensed the basic reference material you need in
this handy, lay-flat book, David Busch’s Compact Field Guide for the Nikon
D7100. In it, you’ll find the explanations of why to use each setting and
option—information that is missing from the cheat-sheets and the book pack-
aged with the camera. You won’t find the generic information that pads out the
other compact guides. I think you’ll want to have both this reference and my
full-sized guide—one to help you set up and use your Nikon D7100, and the
other to savor as you master the full range of things this great camera can do.
About the Author
With more than a million books in print, David D. Busch is the world’s #1
selling digital camera guide author, and the originator of popular digital pho-
tography series like David Busch’s Pro Secrets,David Busch’s Quick Snap Guides,
and David Busch’s Guides to Digital SLR Photography. As a roving photo-
journalist for more than 20 years, he illustrated his books, magazine articles,
and newspaper reports with award-winning images. Busch operated his
own commercial studio, suffocated in formal dress while shooting weddings-
for-hire, and shot sports for a daily newspaper and upstate New York
college. His photos and articles have appeared in Popular Photography,
Rangefinder, Professional Photographer, and hundreds of other publications.
He’s also reviewed dozens of digital cameras for CNet and other Ziff-Davis
publications, and his advice has been featured on NPR’s All Tech Considered.
Visit his website at www.dslrguides.com/blog.

Chapter 1
Quick Setup Guide
This chapter contains the essential information you need to get your Nikon
D7100 prepped and ready to go. You’ll learn how to use a few of the basic
controls and features, and how to transfer your photos to your computer. If you
want a more complete map of the functions of your camera, skip ahead to
Chapter 2. Live view is touched on only briefly in this chapter; if you want to
begin using live view or shoot movies immediately, check out Chapter 6.
Pre-Flight Checklist
The initial setup of your Nikon D7100 is fast and easy. You just need to learn
a few controls, charge the battery, attach a lens, and insert a memory card.
Charging the Battery
When the battery is inserted into the MH-24 charger properly (it’s impossible
to insert it incorrectly), an orange Charge light begins flashing, and remains
flashing until the status lamp glows steadily, indicating that charging is fin-
ished, generally within two to three hours. When the battery is charged, slide
the latch on the bottom of the camera and ease the battery in, as shown in
Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1
Insert the battery
in the camera; it
only fits one way.

David Busch’s Compact Field Guide for the Nikon D71002
Introducing Menus and the Multi Selector
You’ll find descriptions of most of the controls used with the Nikon D7100 in
Chapter 2, which provides a complete “roadmap” of the camera’s buttons and
dials and switches. However, you may need to perform a few tasks during this
initial setup process, and most of them will require the MENU button and the
multi selector pad.
■ MENU button. It’s located to the top left of the LCD. When you want to
access a menu, press it. To exit most menus, press it again. (See Figure 1.2,
left.)
■ Multi selector pad. A thumbpad-sized button with projections at the
north, south, east, and west “navigational” positions, plus a button in the
center (see Figure 1.2, right). With the D7100, the multi selector is used
for navigation—for example, to navigate among menus on the LCD or to
choose one of the 51 focus points, to advance or reverse display of a series
of images during picture review, or to change the kind of photo informa-
tion displayed on the screen using the Info button.
■ OK button. Located in the center of the multi selector pad, the OK but-
ton is used to confirm your choices and send the image currently being
viewed to the Retouch menu for modification.
Figure 1.2
The MENU
button (left) and
multi selector
pad (right).
Setting the Clock
The in-camera clock might have been set for you by someone checking out
your camera prior to delivery, but if you do need to set it, the flashing CLOCK
indicator roughly in the center of the monochrome top-panel LCD will be the

Chapter 1 ■Quick Setup Guide 3
giveaway. Press the MENU button to the left of the LCD, and then use the
multi selector to scroll down to the Setup menu (it’s marked with a wrench
icon), press the multi selector button to the right, and then press the down
button to scroll down to Time Zone and Date, and press the right button
again. The options for setting the 24-hour clock will appear on the screen that
appears next.
Mounting the Lens
If your D7100 has no lens attached, you’ll need to mount one before
shooting:
1. Select the lens and loosen (but do not remove) the rear lens cap.
2. Remove the body cap on the camera by rotating the cap away from the
shutter release button.
3. Once the body cap has been removed, remove the rear lens cap from the
lens, set it aside, and then mount the lens on the camera by matching the
alignment indicator on the lens barrel with the white bump on the cam-
era’s lens mount (see Figure 1.3). Rotate the lens toward the shutter release
until it seats securely.
4. Set the focus mode switch on the lens to AF or M/A (Autofocus). If the
lens hood is bayoneted on the lens in the reversed position, twist it off and
remount with the “petals” (if present) facing outward. A lens hood pro-
tects the front of the lens from accidental bumps, and reduces flare caused
by extraneous light arriving at the front of the lens from outside the pic-
ture area.
Figure 1.3
Match the indica-
tor on the lens
with the white
dot on the camera
mount to prop-
erly align the lens
with the bayonet
mount.